This invention relates to carton erecting apparatus for setting up foldable carton blanks having side and end panels and top and bottom flaps integral therewith, and more particularly to apparatus for setting up carton blanks which are supplied to the apparatus in knocked-down form, and subsequently folding their bottom flaps.
Conventional foldable shipping containers of the rectangular four-flap type are typically manufactured from a single piece of cardboard, corrugated board, or the like, cut into a predetermined pattern and provided with indented fold lines to facilitate folding into a rectangular carton. The manufacturer usually folds the cardboard pattern once to bring two opposite edges together and then joins these two edges, such as with a strip of adhesive tape for example, to thereby form what is commonly known as a "manufacturer's joint". When the carton is set-up for use, the manufacturer's joint is at a corner defined by the meeting of an end panel and a side panel of the carton.
The carton manufacturer ships the carton blank in this compact form, each carton blank being a sheet of corrugated board folded in half and having the free ends joined by a manufacturer's joint. This compact folded configuration is designated in the art, and in the following specification and claims, by the term "knocked-down." Upon receipt by the user, each carton must be set-up by opening it to a rectangular shape and then folding the bottom flaps inwardly to a closed position. The bottom flaps are then typically maintained in the closed position by gluing, by a strip of gummed tape, or by stapling. The present invention is directed toward apparatus for setting up four-flap foldable cartons of the type known as RSC (regular slotted cartons), half telescope and the like.
The previously known apparatus which is designed for setting up and closing the bottom of such carton blanks, which are supplied as a knocked-down or collapsed tubularly formed carton or carton blank having side panels and bottom flaps and top flaps which are integral with the said sides, comprises a support which carries a magazine for the carton blanks, a feeding unit for pulling out and feeding a carton blank and a bottom closing means for folding in and possibly sealing the bottom flaps before the carton is filled. The feeding unit comprises a pneumatically acting catcher which is mounted perpendicularly to the feeding path and it is provided extendable so as to be able to catch a carton blank, pull same out of the magazine and together with the carton blank move along a feeding path while the carton is set-up to tubular form and the bottom flaps are infolded. At this stage the catcher is disengaged from the carton and moves back to catch another carton. In the previously known apparatus there is a first linear motion towards and away from the magazine to grasp and set-up the carton and a second linear motion perpendicular to the first linear motion to deliver the set up carton from the apparatus. These two linear motions necessitate a substantial increase in the exterior dimensions of the apparatus. Examples of such apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,631 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,679.
The present invention is an alternative embodiment and improves upon the carton erecting apparatus disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 590,073, which application has the same inventive entity and assignee as the present invention. The carton erecting apparatus disclosed in this application includes a carton blank storage section, a carton set-up section and a bottom flap folding section. The carton blank storage section includes a magazine assembled for storing and urging knocked-down carton blanks in a substantially vertical orientation towards the carton set-up section.
The carton set-up section includes a carton opening assembly mounted on a substantially horizontal carriage plate movable in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the cartons blanks in the magazine assembly. The carton opening assembly has a folding arm assembly and a pivot arm assembly. The folding arm assembly is pivotal about a substantially vertical shaft secured to the carriage plate and is movable between a first position generally parallel to the side panel of the forward carton blank in the magazine assembly and a second position generally perpendicular to the side panel of the carton. The pivot arm assembly is pivotably secured to the folding arm assembly and is movable between a first position substantially parallel to the folding arm assembly and a second position substantially perpendicular to the folding arm assembly.
A grasping means including at least one suction cup is secured to the pivot arm assembly for grasping the side panel of the forward carton blank from the magazine arrangement when the pivot arm assembly and the folding arm assembly are in their first positions. Subsequent movement of the pivot arm assembly and the folding arm assembly into their second positions is effective to set-up the carton blank into a tubular form with an end panel thereof in contact with the folding arm assembly. The carriage plate is movable through a substantially horizontal plane between a first position within the carton set-up section and a second position extending into the bottom flap folding section for delivery of the set-up carton thereinto.
The bottom flap folding means includes a flap kicker assembly pivotally mounted within the carton set-up section for infolding the trailing bottom end flap of the set-up carton. A longitudinally extending plough member and a pair of converging side plough bars are mounted in the bottom flap folding section for respectively infolding the leading bottom end flap and the bottom side flaps of the set-up carton as the carton travels through the bottom flap folding section.